Tiger Woods turned down the $700-800 million offer to join the controversial LIV Golf

LIV Golf, the professional golf tour that caused controversy his ties with the Saudi Arabian government and efforts to lure talent away from the PGA Tour who have lost the sport’s biggest fish.

In an appearance on Tucker Carlson Tonight, Greg Norman, CEO of LIV Golf, confirmed that 46-year-old Tiger Woods, a 15-time Major champion, rejected an offer of between $700 million and $800 million to participate in the LIV Golf Invitational Series.

“See, Tiger is a needle maker, right? So of course you have to look at the best of the best,” Norman told Tucker Carlson. Norman replied, “They originally reached out to Tiger before I became CEO. This number is somewhere in this neighborhood.”

Norman called the PGA Tour a “monopoly” during his interview with Carlson and said the PGA created obstacles that led LIV Golf to change its plans for the start.

Norman also said It “baffles me” that corporate sponsors have dropped golfers from joining LIV because of their ties to Saudi Arabia, despite having business ties to Saudi Arabia themselves. “I think the PGA Tour has about 27 sponsors that do over $40 billion worth of business in Saudi Arabia annually,” he claimed.

LIV has spent enormous amounts of money to attract top PGA stars to its events. According to that Associated PressAccording to various reports, Phil Mickelson received a $200 million signing bonus while Dustin Johnson received $150 million.

As LIV’s rivalry with the PGA Tour rages on, Woods has remained an outspoken supporter of the latter. “I’ve been playing here for a couple of decades and I think there’s a legacy. I still think the PGA Tour has so much to offer, so many opportunities.” said forest in May. He also specified that players who took money from LIV Golf had “turned their backs” on the PGA Tour that made them famous.

Woods should be able to survive without the LIV deal. Forbes estimates that he has earned $1.7 billion on and off the pitch during his illustrious career.